Car Blog

iCrossing Study Ranks Paid and Natural Search Visibility of Automakers

iCrossing, a global digital marketing company, today announced the findings of the Vertical Visibility Index: Automotive, the first in a series of studies analyzing the paid and natural search media visibility leaders within specific industry verticals.

iCrossing found that Chrysler, GM and Nissan North America are doing the best job of taking a synergistic search engine marketing approach, with the highest scores for combined visibility. Ford leads for natural search visibility and Hyundai has the greatest paid search visibility for the keyword set analyzed.

KEY FINDINGS

• At the OEM level analysis, Ford Motor Company has the largest natural visibility share of market with 22%. They are followed by General Motors Corporation (17%), Chrysler LLC (15%), American Honda Motor Company (11%), and Mercedes-Benz USA (8%). Together, these top five companies make up more than 70% of the total natural search visibility share of market.

• At the brand level, Ford has the highest visibility for a brand with 18% of the natural search visibility market share, followed by Chrysler (12%), Honda (10%), Pontiac (8%), and GMC (6%).

• Of the top 25 keywords by search volume, eight keywords had no visibility for any brand: used car, buy a car, race cars, muscle car, car search, auto loan, car loan, and used car prices.

• Ford Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales USA are the only OEMs with visibility on the top volume keyword, “car”.

• Of the Top 50 Most Visible URLs based on 1st page natural rankings, automobiles.honda.com has the highest position (22nd) for this keyword set within the brand URLs, followed by pontiac.com (40th), fordvehicles.com (47th), and toyota.com (49th).

• For the study keyword set, Hyundai Motor Company has the greatest paid search market share of Google paid search with 30%, followed by General Motors Corporation (22%), and Chrysler LLC (17%). Together, these 3 OEMs have almost 70% of the overall paid search market share on Google for the automotive keyword set.

• Combining the information from natural and paid search analyses, Chrysler LLC, General Motors Corporation, and Nissan North America are doing the best job of approaching search engine marketing with a synergistic approach.

The complete report can be found at http://www.icrossing.com/research

Source: iCrossing

LeaseTrader.com Offers an Affordable Option to Get Out of Your Lease

Despite the price of gas still near $4 per gallon, millions of SUV drivers are hesitant to escape their vehicle simply because they think the cost of exit will outweigh the benefits. Many finance experts caution it will take years to realize the gas cost savings when you calculate what it takes to get rid of your SUV and then shop for a more fuel-efficient vehicle.

Those that lease their SUV can avoid this messy situation. Even if you still have several months remaining on your SUV lease, nationwide programs are available that let you transfer ownership of your lease to someone else, essentially letting you walk away from your contract. Often, the price to walk away can be less than half of one car payment.

“Like the rest of the nation, the price of gas in Southern California has gotten to the point where consumers have to change their driving habits,” said Southern California resident, Jason Mehrvaz. “I used LeaseTrader.com to get out of my Land Rover lease and saved $24,000 in remaining payments. Also, I probably saved an additional $2,400 in gas since I doubled my MPG from the Land Rover to my current vehicle.”

For some, the cost of breaking an SUV lease can be as high as $10,000. “When you break your lease, you’re essentially paying out the balance of the remaining payments,” said Sergio Stiberman, CEO and founder of LeaseTrader.com. SUV drivers can list their vehicle on the site for $79, find someone else to take over the remaining portion of the lease and transfer ownership for $149.

LeaseTrader.com has a full staff of transfer specialists ready to assist people that wish to affordably transfer out of their SUV so they can move on to a smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

Source: LeaseTrader.com

Zero-emissions vehicle now on the roads of Southern California

American Honda Motor Co., Inc., today announced that Ron Yerxa and Annette Ballester took delivery of their hydrogen fuel cell-powered FCX Clarity on Friday, July 25, 2008 at Honda of Santa Monica, one of three dealerships in Southern California that are part of the first fuel cell vehicle dealership network. Yerxa and Ballester are the world’s first FCX Clarity customers and the first of approximately 200 customers who will lease the vehicle in the United States and Japan over the next three years, with the vast majority of vehicles being leased in Southern California.

“The FCX Clarity lease program is one more step toward meeting the societal goals of climate stability, renewable energy supplies and zero-emissions transportation,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. “With this key step, we are advancing toward the goal of broader commercialization,” Mendel added. “Establishing a dedicated sales network and service infrastructure provides customers with the best balance of convenience and the highest level of satisfaction.”

Significant advances over Honda’s previous generation FCX include a 25 percent increase in combined fuel economy to 72 miles/kg-H2* [74 mpg GGE (miles per gasoline gallon equivalent)] and a greater than 30 percent increase in driving range up to 280 miles*. The FCX Clarity is a next-generation, hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle. Propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in the fuel cell, the vehicle’s only emission is water, and its fuel efficiency is three times that of a modern gasoline-powered automobile.

* Based on official 2008 EPA mileage estimates. Use for comparison purposes only. Your actual mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle.

Source: American Honda Motor Co., Inc.